Yes, folks. That is a giant squash. Don’t worry, it won’t be there forever, I’m just experimenting with some new design styles (much less hazadarous than most of the other things one could experiment with, so calm down, I know it’s heinous). What would you like to see incorporated into moltenchocolate.com’s design? I know you’re all bursting with exciting new ideas!! It’s past my bedtime, I’m going to go vote now. Did you vote yet? Today’s the last day!!
Pumpkin seeds are pumkin seeds, right? Not if you brine them!! Here’s how to do it…
Step 1: Make a Brine
Bring 2 cups of water, the juice of a lemon, and 1/2 cup of salt to a boil. While that’s cooling, hollow out your pumpkin; get rid of the big chunks of flesh, but don’t worry too much if there are still some strings mixed in among your seeds–they’re extra flavor, baby!
Step 2: Kick ’em up and roast ’em up!
Soak the seeds in the brine for as long as you like (at least a half an hour). When you’ve brined to your heart’s desire, strain the seeds, toss them in a few tablespoons of olive oil or melted butter, add a pinch or two of cajun spices (like paprika, cayenne pepper, etc.), and some black pepper, and roast those babies in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes (or until they’re light golden brown and nice and crispy!). Yummers!
Okay, so I sent a bunch of you some Halloween treats in the mail, but I have a feeling that they REALLY are NOT going to ship well. At all. So, I just want to warn you that if a leaking box arrives on your doorstep, it’s not from the Wicked Witch of the West, it’s from me, and the best thing to do is just throw the whole thing out. Unless everything seems fine, which it may!! If not, consider it perfect fuel for your very own sacrificial bonfire. I do apologize. You know, I try to send exciting things, but you just can’t get moltenchocolate worthy treats if they need to be shipped…those extra two days decrease the quality of everything. What a disaster. You should all just go buy Pilsbury cookies in a can and make those instead. Or, better yet, brine some pumpkin seeds! Happy Halloween!
Happy Halloween! Who are these hairy hooligans?! I feel they’re going to have to do a better job at dressing up or their loot bags are going to be empty tomorrow night. (Hahahha!)
Is anyone dressing up this year? I don’t think I am…I might wear some festive earings before I go to work (earing wearing is not so much permited at work). I think it’s a sad state of affairs when the silliness eeks out of you enough so that you don’t even want to dress up for Halloween anymore. I need to address this issue in myself, but I hope you will all email me pictures of your costumes so I can post them on moltenchocolate.com!
Are you curious about why we celebrate Halloween? I was too, and discovered that the festivities stem from a Celtic tradition called Samhain. On the night of October 31 (the day before Winter officially began–Winter being associated with death), the Celts sacrificed animals (and wore their heads and skins as costumes) and crops in huge bonfires in hopes that the spirits and ghosts returning to earth to prey on humans during the cold months would be appeased. Interesting, huh?
Why jack-o-lanterns? Read on…!
You might have noticed that a lot of things on moltenchocolate.com were not working in the past week or so!
This is just to say that everything should now be back to its original state (minus the horrid and constant comments from Shira’s favorite spammers).
*fingers crossed*, anyway!
-Carrie
I’ve been reading a LOT lately. Last week I read An Unfinished Life by Mark Spragg, Shadowbrook: A Novel of Love, War, and the Birth of America by Beverly Swerling, and Up Island by Anne Rivers Siddons.
The one by Spragg was very good. I like his style of writing: precise, clean; it was a quick read. Definitely going to look for more books by this author.
Beverly’s Shadowbrook was a bit of a monster at 512 pages, but it was full of interesting (and factual!) historical information about the French and Indian War–with perspectives from both sides of the battle. The native perspective kept me hooked, and I learned that a lot of the information they gave us in elementary school about Native Americans was WRONG! Maybe I should become an elementary school social studies teacher…
Up Island was a total waste of time, and I skimmed at least half of it. A horribly written novel about a group of middle aged people who eventually die; I think she was trying to make it romantic, but that attempt was highly unsuccessful if you ask me. The sense of connectedness that lovers have is absolutely lacking in all the examples she uses! And as if that wasn’t bad enough she writes with 95% description and 5% action, so it’s really extra-uber-boring. BORING. Capital B for don’t Bother.
I also re-read two books from The Song of the Lioness Quartet (by Tamora Pierce), which is only the best J Fic series ever written! I’ve read all four books about ten times each, and can probably recite them by heart, but still thoroughly enjoy them every time, even though I know exactly what’s going to happen! Do you have any books that are like this for you?
I recently finished Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence. I love the classics! I wish I could continuously take college level literature classes and just read and think about and analyze every classic ever written. Since I can’t afford to do that, I’m just reading/thinking/analyzing on my own, which is almost as good.
I’m trying to get into adult fantasy literature, but haven’t had much luck so far. Fantasy was probably my favorite genre in high school, but the adult versions are all so convoluted! In my opinion, you shouldn’t need a six page list of characters at the beginning of a book in order to be able to understand who is who and what’s going on. Hello, I didn’t pick up this book to read a list, I want character development!! Is that too much to ask for? No. Also, why do fantasy writers give everyone names like Mkychfil and Syrtindia? Having to stumble over names like those is a major deterrent, and when you’re already extending your imaginiation to believe a story about an underwater warrior culture that worships eggs and can traverse time by eating sea anemones, you want to avoid unnecessary distractions like thirteen consonant first names. Have any of you read any decent fantasy books lately?